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About The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 1896)
6 TIIE RED OLODD CniEF, FRIDAY, AlU 14, 18U6. v ! f SLEEP THEIR ENEMY. TROUBLES OF NIGHT TELE GRAPH OPERATORS. One Relume Thnt Made a Trump Ancrjr Alarm Clnrku, Dug, Tin Can with String Attachments nml Many Other UeTlcea. s HEN I watm young fellow I wiib night tolcgrnph operator nt a little wny Hta tlon on n railroad," Bald tho individual who works tho Washington wlrc.tiB ho removed a ahado from Ills forehead and Joined the rent of tho fellows at lunch, according to tho New York Trib une. "I remember that our chief am bition In thoHo days was to get as much sleep as wo could nights without being found out, so that wo could get along without wasting so much of tho day In bed. 'Pound' we UBctl to call sleep In those days, Iiocuubo wc stopped 'pounding brass' to 'pound our ears' on an exprcBs-paclcago pillow with a waiting-room bench for a bunk. Funny thing Is trade slang. In those days there wcro very few semaphore signals and we had to get out on tho track with red and whlto lanterns nml swing up trains, and our chlefcht banc was n holding order, for there must bo no sleep with that on our hands. "For Instance, if westbound trains dad tho right of way tho dispatcher might send mo nn order to 'hold No. 'JS for orders' and then run trains east bound against It all the way up the line. Quito a responsibility to put on a 17-year-old boy. Well, If we happened to be terribly sleepy It was a hard tight. 1 have been so sleepy that I daren't sit In my chnlr for fear I would fall asleep, and I hnvo stood up and walled around ninny n tlmo for an hour or bo 'along In tho innall hours of tho morn ing until tho order was revoked or tho train got in. One way wo had was to put a high stool out In' the center of the iloor nml sit on that. If wo went to sleep we would tumblo off. I nearly broke my neck onco that way. I havo often hnd my call on tho wire wako mo up. There's something peculiar about that. I havo been sound asleep In a room adjoining the telegraph office, had a train go by and an alarm clock go off without wnklng mo up, with two or threo Instruments clicking away llko mad all of tho time, and then stnrt up suddenly wide awake when boiiio ono called my ofllco on tho wire. It always seemed to wako mo up In the samo way, I would dream that my station was be ing called nml that some ono was hold ing mo down to prevent my answering It. I would struggle and strain to es cape, nnd then suddenly wako up to llnd the instruments calling, Just as I dienmed they were. Once when I was very sound asleep I actually got up In my sleep and walked across a waiting room into the otllce nml hnd my hands on thctkey to answer a call before I woke tip. i "This wasn't lnfnlllble, however, un fortunately, nnd wo used to try all sorts of schemes to awaken ourselves, usu ally beginning with an alarm clock. Tho troublo with an nlarm clock Is that a man gets accustomed to It and falls to rouse. Wo learned that tho way to use one was to glvo the alarm only ono turn tho first two or throo times wo trleu it, then two turns for awhile and so on until It was fully wound up och time, and when It began to lose its effect, as it would like tho continued uso of opiates, we discontinued It for awhilo and tried something else. I hnvo often set my clock twenty minutes ahoatl, lay down nnd slept peacefully for that brief period. . "The greatest troublo we had was In reporting tho passing of trains. Some of tho night expresses would rush by bo quick that wo wouldn't get thor oughly awake, and then, by nnd by, after the train had been reported from two or three stations nbovo, wo would perhaps weko up and And tho dispatch er calling. Then ho would ask, perhaps, for No. 41, and wo would answer: 'Not yet.' There would bo n bad fow min utes In store for us, for very sovero things can bo Bald over a wire, and they sound n thousand times worst) thun fnce-to-faco abuse. "For awhilo I had a dog who would begin to growl when a train was a mllo away and would wnko mo up, but nfter awhile ho got afflicted In tho regular way and would growl only for a tramp. At last I dovised a novel scheme. I ran a light string across tho track about five feet from tho ground, tied ono end to tho fence and ran tho other through the keyhole. To this end I nttached a coal-hod filled with pokers, tin cans, etc., so that when tho train passed tho string .iuld break and down would come tho hod with a terrlblo clatter and I would bo roused. Well, I had It all nlcoly fixed for tho Chicago ex press tho first night, when about ono o'clock n tramp trudged along up tho track nnd tho string caught him Just under tho noso. Say, he was the mnd-d-st man I ever heard. If I hadn't had my dog with mo I don't believe ho would ever havo calmod down. "Thnt scheme was pretty satlsfactoiy for .julto a whllo, but I got so that I'd sleep through that, too, sometimes, It would get caught occasionally and wouldn't work, nnd It was a mean rig ging to arrango, anyway, so I decided thut the safest plan was to tie tho end of the string to my arm. Tho first time I tried that I was out of cotton string, bo I rummaged around In tho ofllie and found a. ball of this fine, hard twlno which tho express peoplo use, and I stretched that, like a big fool, tlol one end of it nround my wrlHt nnd laid down down on n cot. In about an hour along canio tho New York limited, about fifty mllea nn hour, and say! why, thut twlno would havo towed a canal-boat. Boforo It broke it bad Ho XZB r lift ped over the cot, dragged mo hnlf way acroia the floor, nearly frightened mo to dnnth and cut Into tho flesh of my wrist nearly to tho bone. My arm was nenrly dislocated. You can hot thnt I used cotton twlno after that." NOSES MADE AS OOOD AS NEW. Celluloid, I'Attsnre and Hntnetlmei n rin(,er Needed. Uo would not, with a peremptory tone, Assert the noso upon his face his own, Cowper. And how could he If that nose were fashioned of celluloid, gold, platinum or even a baser metal? asks tho New York World. "Building a noso" sounds quoor, and yet that Is Just what sur geons nro doing almost every day. Evory surgeon who possesses mechan Ical ability enough to bo called n "plas tic Htirgeon" will tako a contract to build n noso Just ns a builder takes a contract for building a house. Tho operntor, In tho case or n man, tho bony portion of whoso nose bns been destroyed, first removes tho dead bono until bo flnds healthy bone. He Is then ready to proceed with tho building. Holes nio drilled Into the sound hone for tho reception of the mctnlllc frame work which Is to sup port tho flesh that will give tho noso tho nppcarnnco of having Its natural frony nnd cnrtllnglnous support. Probably tho most famous case of nose-building is that of the iato Dr. Thomas Sabine Tho opuratlon was performed at Ilellovtio hospital. Tho patient's nose hnd been entirely de stroyed by a disease called lupus. The surgeon transplanted the middle flngcr of tho patient's hand to replace the nose. To tho house surgeon fell the task of destroying tho nail. For this he. used n powerful acid. In rolntlng bin experience iccently ho snld that ho sup posed his work had proved .sucressful, but nfter tho finger hnd been trans planted ho found that the nail was In clined to grow again, nnd ho was obliged to uso tho acid repeatedly bo foro It was finally destroyed. There aro surgical records of othnr similar coses In many of which the nail had grown on tho "flnger nose." In ordinary cases whoro only tho bony portion of tho noso lina been de stroyed, celluloid Is said to prove most satisfactory, as It Is better borne In living tissues thnn any other fliilHtnnce. A case was recently shown at tho Academy of Medicine. Tho patient wan a young man whoso nnsal bones had been destroyed through diseases. The skin had fallen Into tho cavity. The shape of his noso waB restored by an aluminum tripod. Tho surgeon drilled n holo In tho frontnl bono for tho reception of ono branch of tho ap paratus, whllo tho other branches fitted into holes which had been drilled In tho upper Jawbone. To tho'untralned eyo tho noso had ovcry appearance of being normal. Certlllmte for Women nt Oxford. Tho Council of tho Association for the Education of Women In Oxford' has decided, ponding the rovlval of tho agi tation for conferring the bachelor of arts degree on women, to Issue certifi cates to those of Itfl students who hnvo compiled with cortnln conditions of ex amination nnd residence. Thoy will be of three kinds, but It will bo essential for all that resldenco shall havo been kept In Oxford nnd a class obtained In an Oxford honor ex amination. The first will bo given for tho strict bnchelor of nrts courso with full residence. The second will be giv en for a courso nppioved by tho coun cil of tho association as an alternative to tho dogree course. Three examina tions will bo obligatory and twelvo terms' residence, but thero will be no limits of standing. For tho third, eight terms' resldenco will bo sufficient, nnd an Intermediate examination will not be required. The certificates will boar tho signa tures of tho president of the associa tion nnd the principal of tho college, uaii or outer uotiy to which tho stu dent belongs, nnd will bo issued only to students whoso names have boon on the booka of tho association during tho requisite period of residence. By tho present rules of tho association no student can bo placed or remain on the books unions she Is a member of Lady Margaret Hall, Somervlllo College, St. Hugh's Hnll or tho Hotly of Homo Stu dents, but provision tins been mado for the recognition, under certain condi tions, of new halls. London Times. The Itneiitgen !t)f. Tho electrical other waves, which Herz and others havo experimented with, aro, ns a rule, too largo to de compose tho salts of a photographic plate, but they can traverse opaquo substances, such as the human body, without causing sensation, as Tesla'a experiments showed. If thoy nro too Inrgo to nffect tho sonsltlvo pinto and tho eye, thoy are also too largo to Irri tate tho nerves. Roentgen and others have demonstrated, however, that cer tain of these electric rays or wavo mo tions can nffect tho sensitive (11m Indi rectly by exciting phosnhoreaennpo In bodies on which they fall. Henco tho Hoentgen silhouettes nnd the crypto Bcopo of Salvlonl nro nlroady familiar to the readers of this column. London Globe. On Their Trark. "Ha! hn!" quoth Romeo Gruffvolce, tho tragedian, as ho wearily stepped from tlo to tlo on tho wny In from Frostvllle, " 'tis the first time, for sooth, I havo jlnyed tho rolo of detec tive Tho directors of this road know mo not, but I am on tholr track." Just then a train turned tho curve and tho way It used him made him feel very much cut up. Now York World. DECAY OF ST. HELENA. Oreat llrltulrt Allow It to fall Into Decrepitude. Napoleon effectually prevented St. Helena from ever sinking Into obscur ity, Bays the African Critic. Neverthe less, for some yenrs past the Island has been getting deeper and deeper Into financial straits, while tho population has been steadily diminishing. St. He lena Is only some 1,000 miles distant from Cape Town nnd yet the Island is comparatively unknown to South Af rlcnn colonists, ns tho outwnrd and homeward steamers to and from Capo Town call there only onco In three weeks nnd mnke a vory brief stoppage And yet this historic Island Is well worthy of a visit, not only from Its as sociation with the great Corslcan hut also because It possesses, probably, tho finest climate In tho world. A con ntant southeasterly trado wind, straight from the pole, blows over the Island and Bweeps away those germs of dis ease which lie latent In less favored spots. As a consequence, tho longev ity of tho Inhabitants Is probably much greater than In any other portlbn of the globe. In spite of all this and the proximity of tho Island to the Capo, hardly a solitary Africander finds his way thero from one j ear's end to the other. So much In reference to St. Helena ns a bt'i.lth resort. Now let mo briefly refer to a matter that Is of more vital importance. The strategical advan tages of tho Island have been fully recognized by both military nnd naval experts and the loyal commission which wns presided over by the lato Lord Cornnrvon recommended that It should bo strongly fortified and consti tuted nn Important naval and coaling station for tho vessels of tho squndron within the Cane command. Those rne- ommendatlons havo, however, not been carried Into effect. Certainly some thing was dono to Improve the forti fications ten or twelvo years ago, but the guns nro now of nn obsolete typo nnd tho diminutive irarrison mnlntnln. ed In tho island Is utterly Inadequato to tiorciul It. Moreover, though St. Helena is supposed to be a naval coal ing station, the ndmlralty mnlntnlncd no coal supply there, tho coal for tho ships on tho Cape ami west coast of Africa stations being kept at Ascen sion, which docs not possess even a Rolltnry gun but Is a cinder heap upon which many thousands nro annually wasted. Tho defenseless condition nf St. hm. ena Is a mntter that Intimately con cerns the South African colonies nnd should engngo their attention. Tho Is land Is utterly unnble to. hnln itsoif Tho opening of tho Suez canal ruined its prosperity nnd ever slnco It has been drifting nearer ami nnnmr n bankruptcy. The greater portion of Its adult malo population bns mlgrnted to the Cape nnd tho wlinlo rnvrmim nt im Islnnd Is now only aomo fO.opO. There nro only hnlf a dozen ofilclnls and tho governor fills Innumerable other offices, niuuiuiiig mat or clilef (and only) Jus- uce. it is deplorable that Great Britain should allow mm f ita nna. sessions to sink Into such a condition of decrepitude, nnd especially an Is land which, lying in the direct route to the Cape, must ever bo of considerable Importance. The Taper Returned. "I'll toll you the queerest storv vnn ever heard," said Chief Dickinson of tlie department of fire the othor dnv "and It Is a true story at that. In 1SG4, toward me end or tho war, I was at Fort Lincoln, nt Washlnctnn th inn.i. er of a band of tho Ono Hundred and Mftfcth Ohio Regiment. The war was hot, and of courso we wore all Intense ly Interested In the very latest wo could get about It. Newspapers wero scarce, and when wo managed to get hold of one we regarded it as a treas ure. Ono day I was fortunate enough to got hold of a copy of the Philadel phia Inquirer, which contained a lot or wnr news. Arter I had read It I handed It nround nmong tho boys, and finally loaned It to a man named Breymeler. Yester day who should walk Into tho office but nreymelcr, who returned tho paper with thanks. Ho was looking over his old papers to get Inrormntlon to assist the widow or an old comrndo in getting n pension, nnd ho ran across the Inquirer. What do you think of the conscience or a mnn who would re turn a paper after all that tlmo?" Clovolnnd Leatlor. flame. I,nw In Central Afrlrn. Game Is to bo preserved In Central Africa. Major von Wlssman has sot aside a portion or Gorman East Africa, within which no shooting will bo al lowed without a license from tho gov ernor of the colony. A license to shoot elephant or rhlnoccroa costn 500 rupees a year for a native; females and young elophnntB with tusks weighing less than six pounds must not lift shot nt all. White men will pay 100 rupees for tho first elephant shot nnd 250 rupees for ovcry other, 50 rupees for the first two rhinoceroses, nnd 150 rupees for all af ter them. Monkey, bensts of prey, boars nnd birds, except ostriches nnd secre tary birds, mny bo killed without a license Curlnu Writing Tahle. Mrs. Wlnthrop "My husband Is go ing to do most of his business corres pondence at homo while I'm away in tho country." Mrs. Merritt "Is ho go ing to use that lovely dosk of yours?" Mrs, Wlnthrop "No; he has bought a tnblo covered with green cloth, with tho funniest little hole cut in tho top you over saw." Puck. , Awfully Kiiineicd. Hagghst "I understand that you have been awfully squeezed In the city or late." ' four now type- DEMON MADE IN JA PAX SUPERSTITIOUS ORIENTALS DE CEIVED. Ilerania nirh In Three Months Cranial linnet of lionet and Oxen, Horae Teeth and Bteer'i llorni Usee . Make the Skull. HE skeleton or a "demon" was re cently placed on exhibition In Ja pan. It wna ex hibited over hair of t h e empire, and caused an lmmcnso sensation wherevor it was shown. Tho "demon" l tho great bugaboo of the Japanese In tho olden times In which, accord ing to native tradition, the demon ex isted, It was possessed of enormous strength, a voracious appetite and a pestilential breath, devastlng n dis trict with even greater dispatch than tho plague It Is supposed to have had n real ex istence and to bo extinct only In the fcenso that we know tho dodo to be ex tinct. Henco there nro ninny nntlvcs of Japan who believe that there Is a possibility that one remaining speci men of tho demon mny bo discovered In tome remote place where It hna been eoiicencled for many yenrs. Therefore, the skeleton, fabricated by an Ingenious Japaneso fakir, nisod great curiosity, nnd thousands or Japaneso flocked to seo It. Its own-1 er grow rich, nnd his specimen might havo continued to furnish evidence of the truth of some of tho astonishing folklore tales of tho masses had not tho fact that It waa a awlndlo been proved by tho authorities. As It was, tho excltomont over It was immense. Hero Is what tho Japan Weekly Mall says of It: "A most Ingenious swindler recently mot with woll-mertted punishment nt the hands of tho Kumamoto pollco au thorities, after having ror moro than three months dono a roaring business by Imposing on the credulity or the Kyuaha people. Ho exhibited what ho waa pleased to call the skeleton f a demon, and has been convicted or most daring duplicity nnd Bent up ror a long term to a plnco whero flesh and blood demons aro or not Infrequent oc currence. "His name Is Mlchlgaml Kataro, his native vlllago Bingo, his real profes sion that of a papor-hanger. Being dissatisfied with the profits derived from honest trado, ho conceived tho Idoa of manufacturing a demon of the good old-fashioned ShutcndoJI type, bo llevlng with Justlco that ho would make a fortune by exhibiting so raro and noteworthy an object. Ilia pro fessional skill stood him in good stead In carrying out this plan, tho ingenuity displayed bolng well worthy a bottsr scheme. "In manufacturing the huge skull ho used the cranial bones of horses and oien. Theso he Joined together raost deftly by covering them on tho inner side with akin taken rrom tho stomach of an ox. Horso teeth inserted the wrong way wero placed In tho demon's mouth, giving the skull a most fero cious expression. Two homo romnln od to bt soldered on In strict accord ance with tho received traditions or demons in Japan, and here again the born of an ox wero pvt In requisition. , EMiM i tin ISim,,,M, m XZZ -wiMmMm fmi MM9HK' wHBttHBfflve? "The thorough preparations being completed, he set out on a swindling tour nnd enrncd a substantial sum by exhibiting his handiwork. "Hut fato was lying in wait for him nt Kumamoto. Tho fraud was detect ed and tho swindling three tho skele ton, tho document and tho man were Impounded and Imprisoned. The man mado a clean breast of it, giving a mlnuto description of tho manner In which ho had mnde the skeleton, to tho dollght of tho Kumamoto police" A CITY PASTEL. rictared In the Dent Where Kdltort and l'roof'readert Toll. Onco upon a time a wealthy proof reader who possessed an entire box of matches was accosted by an Indigent editor who wanted fire for his pipe and possessed nothing but a copy of the '"Light of Asia." Tho proof-reader thus importuned declared he could give his comrndo no assistance, as his matches were hard como by and he had nothing but a good, fat Balnry between himself nnd n heartless world. The ed itor declared ho woa in the same fix, nnd the proof-render relentod and gave him ono measly fugitive match with a head on it that was bo small It was only a pimple. "This mntch," said tho odUor as he struck It, "which you have bo gener ously donated to tho relief or suffering humanity, hns effected a marvelous rev olution In society for so smnll a thing. I recollect my grnndrnther telling mo of tho troublo they used to have In ob taining lights In the old days. How ho would sit up In bed whllo grandmn would paddle around In her pretty bare feet hunting the flint on cold winter mornings, nnd how when stio had THE DEMON THAT SCARED JAPAN. round it while sho was knocking n spark out or tho old flint and steel ho wub 8iiro or another hair hour's nap. Wow! That Infernal thing burned my fingers. Gimmo another mntch!" "Not to any extent," replied the opu lent prooirender. "If you had spent the time you wasted on that chestnut In lighting your plpo you would -havo been out or the woods. You can either hunt n flint and steel or procure a light from ono of Mr. Edison's candles." Chicago DlBpatch. Cecil Ithoilet an Utter Failure. Tho astute president of the Transvaal hns acquired for tho treasury a sum of 210,000, which will pay for many Max ims, has silenced nil prominent British oppononts of the Boer oligarchy and has obtained a reputation for self-control and merciful dealings with rebels. Ho triumphs, In fnct, all along tho lino, and will probably now devoto himself with renewed energy to Ills two groat objects tho acquisition of a port under his own dominion nnd the destruction of Mr. Cecil Rhodes, who U to him n kind of bogy. We do not remember so complote n defeat of a British party anywhero and regnrd tho Incessant paoans to Its leaders' ability as uttered In contempt of all vlslblo racts. To bo crushed in tho field, to bo defented In council, to loso reputation and to for feit great sums of money, these aro feats suroly to which even the Incom petent are equal. "I could have dono that," said tho Austrian emperor de posed ror incapacity, when ho heard of tho loss of Lombardy. London Spec tator. The Same Thing. Hustler Why don't you go to work and show people thero Is something In you? Lnzlman Wouldn't an ocean voyage answer tho samo purposo? LouUvlllo Truth. VAN TASSELL'S TEA. lilt Fortune Vrto Told hut Not 1)7 III Fiancee. Young Van Tassell's flanco was still In Boston, which mny hnvo accounted ror that young man's presence In Miss HeBslo Travers little den, which opens directly from tho Travers parlor, says tho New York Mali nnd Express. It would bo difficult to Imnglno any thing moro stiff and awesome than tho Trav ers parlor, or anything moro graceful and charming thnn Miss Bessie's little don, unless, perchance, it wns Miss Dessle- herself. Young Van Tnssell has of Into been In the habit or dropping in to seo Miss Travers at about tea time. Just why he does this he himself could not explain, but Miss Travers knows, and there are moments when a queer littlo triumphant smilo flickers over her lips, and the very faintest, prettiest blush Imaginable creeps up from her neck, dying her charming faco a deli cate pink. Last night tho young man strolled Into tho littlo room nnd found Miss Ilcssle sewing, No ono else was .there. Van TasselT has been wondering of late how ho always happens to find his friend nlono when ho drops in ror tea. Thero always used to bo a crowd there. "It's warm, Isnl It?" said Van Tas sell as ho dropped comfortably into nn ensy chair, which, by Bomo accident, had been placed Just whero he could get tho best view of Miss Ressle, who was sowing on some dainty trifle "Yes," said Miss IleBsie, without look ing up. "Heard from Klttlo lately?" "Yes," nald Van Tnssell, shortly; "I hnd a letter this morning. What hnvo you been doing slnco I saw you last?" "I think Kitty Is quite the prettiest girl I know," Bald Miss Bessie. "Do you?" said Van Tnssell. "When nro you going to let me tench you to rldo a blcyclo?" "Does Kitty rldo?" "No," snld Vnn Tn83ell, "sho does not. I say Bess, do you remember when you used to ride on tho back Bte; of my velocipede?" "Yes," said Miss Travers demurely. "I wonder If Kitty over did anything llkothat?" "I wonder," said Van Tassell. "Wo used to have pretty good ilmes, didn't we, dear boy?" said the girl. "Awfully Jolly," said Van Tnssell. Miss Bessie Blghcd very gently. A sigh should not be overlong. "Wo aro grown up now," she said gently. "Will you hnvo tea?" sho continued, putting awny her work. "Tell my fortuno In tho tea leaves," commanded Van Tassell as ho put down his cup. "If I can," said tho girl. "I don't know how far I can go." I'm very anxious," snld Vnn Tassell. "The ruturo is a sealed book." "That's the right phrase," Bald the girl, laughing. "I sec a dark woman," sho began, as sho peered Into tho cup. "That's Kitty; and thero Is a blond young man; that's you; nnd there's another woman. 1 wonder who she enn be?" "I wonder, too," sold Van Tassell. "I I can't tell you any moro," con tinued tho girl, "becnuse It Is so ub Burd." "Go on, plenso," said Van Tassell. "Tho young man doesn't really earo for tho dark girl," said Miss Bessie. "Now, don't you seo how silly it Is?" Vun Tassel said nothing. Sometimes this is wise. "And, although ho doesn't know It, the othor girl likes him a little. Isn't It perfectly foolish?" nnd tV young woman blushed gently. "Oh, I Bupposo so," said Van TobwII. "And nnd, I guess that's ,! I tan seo," ended tho girl. "I wonder who thnt other girl Is'" said Van Tnssell. "I wonder." said tho girl. Haunted tiy a Voire. Joseph Knecht, 73 years old, a vot eran of the lato wnr, was found 1-: i dead In a barn. A fow days ago'h purchased 10 cents' worth of arsenic nnd said ho was gonlg to kill himself but nobody believed him. In connect tlon with the circumstances Knecht's death It la said that when he was a sol dler In tho wnr for tho union a rebel shot ono of Knecht's comrndejTlils oc curred near tho rebel's homo and Knecht vowed revenge Going to the houso with a loaded gun ho slew the rebel in tho presence of his wife and ramlly. Tho woman screamed when she saw her husband killed, and her voice had such an unearthly sound that Knecht said it always haunted him and he was going to kill hlmseir In order to get nwny rrom the result or his cruelty -Philadelphia Inquirer. y Tourist pnrtles or women cyclists are to bo a reature or tho English highway MIW MUtllUUli ' 4VS1 w , ii sv :us ,j m .